Kherson was liberated on Friday by the Ukrainian army after 8 months of Russian occupation. There are so many amazing photos and videos going around of the liberation with people singing, dancing, waving Ukrainian flags and hugging the soldiers who liberated them. This powerful photo perfectly summarizes the liberation: the relief, the joy, and the Ukrainian spirit.  

The liberation of Kherson says a lot about the state of the Russian army, the incompetent Russian government and the lies they keep telling the world, themselves, and their people to justify this war. Here are a couple of observations.  

>Russia organized sham referendums in the occupied Ukrainian territories to annex them. According to Russia, 87% of the people in Kherson oblast voted to join Russia. If this was true, why was nobody hiding in their houses or sad that Russia gave up Kherson? Instead, they were all celebrating.  

>Since Kherson became officially Russian (according to Russia) a couple of weeks ago, Russia just gave up a part of Russia. A huge humiliation. Furthermore, according to Russia’s policies, they can use nuclear weapons if someone is attacking Russia. This also didn’t happen. More reason not to listen to Russian nuclear blackmail.

>Putin has declared many times that he would not give up Kherson as it was of huge strategic (and symbolic) importance. Therefore, Russia was reinforcing their troops there. The fact that Putin’s minister of Defence announced the retreat and that we have not seen Putin in the last days, tells us that there is quite some chaos in the Kremlin and that his position is weakening. He is also not going to the important G20 meeting in Indonesia.

In conclusion, the liberation of Kherson is a huge victory for Ukraine and a huge humiliation for Russia. Putin’s position seems to be getting weaker. On top of that, winter is coming. Loads of mobilized Russians don’t have proper winter gear and will be exposed to the cold. Things are starting to look better.

Слава Україні!

Originally posted on Instagram on November 13, 2022